Violin Concertos

"The violin tone - both of Podger and the rest of her Brecon Baroque - is rich and silky-smooth, and the spatial placement of the performers is quite well reproduced in the surround option. The four concertos are quite different from one another - no danger of confusing them as with many of the Vivaldi or Corelli concertos. The A minor is compact but dense and fully worked out, with much more going on than the typical Venetian concerto. The tempi seem just right, not langourously pointing up every little Bachian element but also not rushing forward at such a breathless pace that the music fails to flow rationally. Recommended!" (Five Stars AudAud.com)

The dynamic ensemble Brecon Baroque was founded in 2007 by violinist Rachel Podger as resident ensemble at her annual Brecon Baroque Festival. The international line-up consists of some of some of the leading lights in the period-instrument world, such as cellist Alison McGillivray, flautist Katie Bircher, oboist Alexandra Bellamy and violist Jane Rogers, as well as some of Rachel's "star" former students who now occupy leading positions in many of Europe's finest ensembles.

Brecon Baroque specializes in the music of J.S.Bach and his contemporaries, often as a one-to-a-part ensemble but also as a small Baroque orchestra. Over the last two years the ensemble has performed several of Bach's Cantatas for solo soprano with Elin Manahan Thomas and will do so again in 2011. Future recording plans include Bach's Art of Fugue and Telemann's great collection Tafelmusik.

'The opportunity to spend three intensive days recording four Bach concertos is an uplifting experience. Each piece encompasses a unique expressive world where discovering the real essence of every movement becomes a kind of obsession! The concertos in A minor and E major are old friends. I've grown up with them and I played them a lot when young. The other two, in G minor and A major, were very familiar (as harpsichord concertos or in various transcriptions) - relations I knew reasonably well but not such close friends. It has been a delight to explore these pieces and renew acquaintance, first hand.' Rachel Podger